National Year of Reading 2008

Kate Hardy has blogged today about the 100 books, nicked from Michelle Styles, as part of their National Year of Reading 2008’s writers in residence programme.

The idea is:
1) Look at the list of 100 titles and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.

I will not repeat the list from Kate’s blog but here is My score:

Read? =63

Love? =4- A town like Alice, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Heart of Darkness

Intend to Read? =3.That’s right, 3. Otherwise I would have already read them J

Overall Conclusion?

No doubt an excellent and learned, well meaning and best intentioned committee came up with this list of books.

Time for a Reallity Check.

Some people might think it is terrific to encourage others to read something they have not tried before – and they may love. And they would be right.

Some people might think it is an insult that they should be told what to read, and the ‘though police’ are back in force. And they would also be right.

Difficult.

I consider myself quite well read. I have been reading prolifically since age 4.

And I scored 63%.

I think that there is a great danger in creating lists like this, since they could make the occasional fiction reader feel inadequate and possibly even second rate- as though they were not worthy to read ‘the posh books’ as someone said to me once in a bookshop.

Over the last year or two I have had several – sometimes heated – discussions with intelligent people about why I love commercial genre fiction over literary fiction.

We know the criticism about romance – you should hear what they say about crime and thrillers!

Trashy books.

Beach books.

This is elitism and must be stamped out.

But it has an impact.

And sorry, but MOST – not all by any means– of the books on this list would not be considered by the vast majority of folk as commercial genre fiction, which most people read for pleasure and are willing to hand over their hard earned cash to buy.

I know, I know, many are totally brilliant.

Other the other hand..

Unless you are studying English Literature at school for exams or at a higher level, why would anyone want to read Shakespeare? These are plays – and I always enjoyed them better on the stage.

Same with most of the 19th and 20th century literature.

Why would someone spend their money on these books?

What relevance do they have in people’s lives in 2008 when money is getting tighter?

Worse. Reading Groups and Book Clubs tend to favour these books.

I know from personal experience that to many people the idea of a reading group is STILL a party for clichéd middle class females gathering over chardonnay and nibbles to talk about Alice Sebold and other [and I quite directly from a work colleague] ‘Boring’ books.

Oh dear.

Many of these books are classed under than banner = and it is going to be mighty hard to drag them out into the fresh air and sunshine and convince readers to try them.

And the biggest problem/challenge? My person opinion?

To most people under 30 today, their storytelling experience has come from Television and movies.

We all know quotes from our favourite TV shows and films.

We have our favourite characters and themes.

Screenwriting and TV writing is the new storytelling. And it is often brilliant. It is designed to be compelling and entertaining.

I am so old that I was introduced to books BEFORE our family had a TV.

How many can say the same today?

Choice.

1.TV/DVDs/ Cinema OR

2.Books readers will have to work hard to read, no matter how entertaining they may be, and how wonderful the storytelling.

Yes, I know that we do both, but not everyone does.

Reading habits are changing. Several surveys have shown that adults read in bed for 20 to 40 min sessions, or while travelling. Are they going to do that with Joyce?

Example. Yesterday evening I watched ‘StarDust’ on DVD – then read the final chapters of my Mills and Boon before lights out.

That is the world in 2008.

I greatly admire anyone involved in the National Year of Reading campaign – it is a brilliant cause. Because they are going to have their work cut out for them.

3 thoughts on “National Year of Reading 2008”

Reading should be for everyone, not an elitist group; and also tastes change. Not everyone likes the classics, and frankly not all the classics are good/to people’s taste. (I can’t bear Jane Austen. I do, however, adore George Eliot and Thomas Hardy, and know people who loathe them and adore Austen. Horses for courses.)

I notice it particularly in children’s books. I bought a lovely illustrated edition of The Wind in the Willows for my littlest when she was young, intending to read it to her and share the pleasure I had… and it’s so far from modern experience that it was unreadable in places. So we chose other authors such as Mick Inkpen, Colin McNaughton and Helen Oxbury (her Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig is just fantastic and we love it even now). I have a feeling that Alison Uttley, Alan Garner and Susan Cooper (my own childhood faves) may not speak to them. (The Owl Service will give littlest one nightmares… but oh, she’d love the Mabinogion so I might retell that for her myself. And Malory.)

Eldest will only read nonfiction or ‘humorous’ fiction (The Killer Underpants being a big fave). BUT at his current school the head reads aloud to the kids for an hour every week and I think that helps.

Littlest has my book habit, so I’m encouraging to look at a blurb and see if it’s the kind of theme she likes, then read a bit from the middle to see if she likes the author’s voice – the characterisation, the dialogue and the pace.

I’m seriously thinking about coming up with a list of my own top books to read. Not ranked, but explaining exactly what I like about them and why I want to share them with the world. In fact, you’ve just given me a major lightbulb about the NYR, so thank you VERY much for that.

You are welcome Kate, and a saint for tolerating my rant. 🙂 Your comments about childrens’ books are really interesting – not something I had considered before.
And you go for it – your Personal List of Top Books to be Read would give a real insight into your character. Is it true that psychiatrists like to look at your bookshelves so they can save time getting to the Real Inner self of their patients as opposed to the external facade?
OOPs.
Upwards and onwards.

I think I posted on Michelle Style’s blog that most of the books on the list thatI’d read were done as one of my many ‘self improvement’ type exercises. Very few of them gave me reading pleasure just a virtuous glow that I’d tackled them.
With my children, some of the books I loved they’ve enjoyed. My eldest loved the Narnia books and Enid Blyton but many books I’d hoped they might like simply didn’t interest them. The one book they all liked which has stood the test of time was Winnie the Pooh, the poems. The King asked the queen and the queen asked the dairy maid, could we have some butter for the royal slice of bread?
Go on, you know your reciting it in your head!